Never is A Promise
by Corinne
Summary: Jeff Hardy Fic - ON HIATUS
1. Default Chapter

Chapter 1  
  
"LUCAS!" A young woman called out frantically as she walked around the small airport.  
  
"Oh God! Lucas! Where are you?" She called out again.  
  
Matt looked up from his seat. He pulled his baseball hat lower on his head and fixed the sunglasses he was wearing. He had been sitting at the airport for 3 hours now. They had messed up his rental car and given it to someone else and with the snow falling heavily, all the other cars had been taken. He looked at the woman with interest. There was something vaguely familiar about her. Who the hell was Lucas?  
  
He turned around when he felt a tug on his ponytail. He turned around and was met by a cheerful cherubic face of a little boy no more than 4 or 5.  
  
"Shh...Don't tell Mommy I'm hiding from her." He giggled. His small face was framed by shaggy blonde hair and he held a bag of skittles in one sticky hand and pulled at Matt's hair again with the other. He reminded Matt of Jeff as a little boy when he had gone through a fear of the barbershop and had refused to cut his hair.  
  
"Want some?" The little boy asked, extending the skittles towards Matt.  
  
"Uh sure..." Matt said taking a few.  
  
"Shouldn't you go back to your mommy now? She looks really upset." Matt said calmly.  
  
"Umm..." The little boy said thoughtfully then stood up on the chair and held his arms up to be carried.  
  
"Up!" He demanded. Matt looked around and shrugged. "What the hell...I'll just give him to his mother." He thought to himself. He picked him up and carried him to the frantic woman.  
  
"Um...Miss...is this yours?" He asked.  
  
"Oh my god! Lucas...don't you ever do that to Mommy again do you understand me! Don't you ever do that to me!" She said as she clutched him to her.  
  
"Thank you so much sir..." She said as she held Lucas to her. She was so distraught with her son that she didn't even look up yet.  
  
"No prob...uh...pardon me for asking...but do I know you?" He asked as he recognized her.  
  
She looked up and there was a faint flicker in her eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry no...I don't think we've ever met before."  
  
"Oh...I could have sworn you....umm, I'm Matt Hardy". He said extending a hand towards her.  
  
"Nice to meet you." She said quietly. "We have to go now. Thank you again."  
  
"Caroline? Is that you?" Matt said trying to get a closer look at her.  
  
"No...Uh...We have to go." She said turning around and walking away quickly.  
  
"Mommy...How come that man knew your name?" Lucas asked.  
  
"He made a mistake sweetie..." She said as they exited the airport. She breathed a sigh of relief when the sight of a familiar face distracted Lucas.  
  
"Uncle Shannon!" He called out, wriggling out of Caroline's hold.  
  
He jumped into Shannon's arms when he was close enough.  
  
"Whoa there...How're you kid?" Shannon asked as Lucas eagerly hugged him back.  
  
"We're good. I didn't cry on the plane but there was this baby in the back crying the whole time." He chattered on.  
  
"Caro...what's wrong?" Shannon asked as they walked towards his car.  
  
"Um...Matt saw us." She bit her bottom lip worriedly. Shannon put Lucas in the car and surprised him with a new toy.  
  
"Did he recognize you?" Shannon said quietly after closing the door.  
  
"He did. But I told him it wasn't me and walked away really quick. You don't think he'll tell Jeff do you?"  
  
"I uh...don't know."  
  
"God...I knew this was a mistake." She said worriedly.  
  
"You can't let this bother you Caro...you can't run away forever."  
  
"I know. I just...I can't deal with this."  
  
"Look we'll talk about this later." He said looking at the car as Lucas began knocking on the window with a worried look on his face.  
  
"Okay." She said as she climbed into the car.  
  
"Are you okay Mommy?"  
  
"I'm fine sweetie. Are you buckled up?"  
  
"Yep." He said pulling at the seatbelt to prove to her he really was.  
  
"Good."  
  
"Well Lucas...how do you like North Carolina so far?" Shannon asked as he got in the car.  
  
"I like it. That man at the airport was nice." He said naively.  
  
"Yeah I'm sure he was. Ready for Christmas at my house for a change?" Shannon said quickly changing the subject.  
  
"I can't wait. Hey you think Santa knows where you live?" He asked worriedly.  
  
"Of course he does. He knows where all the good boys are at Christmas."  
  
"Good." Lucas said cheerfully playing with his toy again. 


	2. Ch 2

Chapter 2  
  
"Matt? Jesus...where the hell have you been? Dad and I were about to send out a search party..." Jeff said as he watched Matt shake off the snow off his jacket.  
  
"They didn't have anymore cars left."  
  
"You could have called us. We were just sitting here freaking out."  
  
"Yeah right. Like I would trust you to drive in the snow and get me...believe me. It was safer to wait."  
  
"Well...Dad fell asleep already. We ate dinner already too."  
  
"Good...listen Jeff we have to talk." Matt said as Jeff sat down in front of the tv and switched on MTV2.  
  
"What about? Oh and Amy called asking for you. You should go call her she's pretty worried. And then my house still doesn't have hot water so I'm staying here for two weeks until they fix all the plumbing problems. Shane called and..."  
  
"I think I saw Caroline at the airport today." Matt interrupted.  
  
"What?!" Jeff said in shock.  
  
"I could have sworn it was her. Well I mean it has been a few years maybe I was mistaken..." Matt said worriedly as he looked at Jeff's pale face.  
  
"Dark curly hair? Light brown golden eyes?" Jeff asked.  
  
"Ummm...yeah but ah..."  
  
"Tall? And beautiful and..."  
  
"Jeff she had a kid with her. He looked a lot like..."  
  
"Caro has a kid?" Jeff said worriedly. All he could think about was finding her.  
  
"Like you..." Matt finished.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I don't know. Jeff I asked her if she was Caroline and she said no. She had a little boy with her...he looked a lot like you."  
  
"Do you think..." Jeff began.  
  
"Did you guys...?"  
  
"Where is she?" Jeff said hurriedly...his head spinning with thoughts.  
  
"She ran away. Look it probably wasn't her."  
  
"I have to find her." Jeff said standing up and grabbing his coat.  
  
"Jeff no... even if it was her you have no idea where she is. You don't even know where to start. Just get some sleep."  
  
"I...I need to find her."  
  
"Jeff...look I'm sorry...I should never have said anything. But either way you know she doesn't want to be found...you've been looking for her for four years."  
  
"If that is my son then..."  
  
"Jeff...look forget I said anything. It wasn't Caroline...and if it was...Cameron's not that big of a town."  
  
"Matt...I need to know..."  
  
"I have to go call Amy. Don't worry about it okay Jeff...I'm sure it wasn't her. Yeah...uh...I'm sure of it. Didn't look a thing like her." Matt said, not quite meeting his brother's gaze.  
  
"Good night." He said and wasn't surprise when Jeff didn't respond.  
  
"Caroline..." Jeff murmured. He got up from the couch and went downstairs to the basement.  
  
He turned on the light and walked to a wall full of shoeboxes. It was his brother's way of filing everything. Everything had a date and small label of what it contained. He found the box that was labeled summer of 2000 and pulled it down carefully. Inside was a pile of pictures.  
  
"Caro...Caroline..." He murmured again as he looked through them. Countless pictures of Matt, Amy, Jeff, Shannon, Shane, and Beth were all he found. He looked up again and shook his head. He knew there had to be at least one picture of her in there somewhere. He began pulling down random boxes and he was close to giving up when he found an unlabeled box at the bottom. He chewed his bottom lip and opened it. Inside was a small folded brown bag. He opened it with hands shaking. Her smiling face greeted him. He ran his finger down her cheek and closed his eyes. He could still see her so clearly. The way her eyes lit up when she smiled...and the way her eyes darkened when she cried. God...the image of her crying had been emblazoned in his mind for four years. He sat down on the floor of the basement and thought about everything that happened in the past. 


	3. ch 3

Chapter 3  
  
FLASHBACK ----- 4 Years Ago:  
  
"Come on Matt...Please! I never ask you for anything..."  
  
"No Amy!"  
  
Jeff popped another peanut butter M&M in his mouth as he walked into Amy's living room. He could hear Matt and her fighting over something.  
  
"Please Matt...I promised my mom I would do this for her. It's for a really good cause." Amy complained.  
  
"No Amy...hell no." Matt said flipping channels as he tried his best to ignore her. Usually he was a sucker for those hazel eyes and her little pouts. But not for this favor.  
  
"Pleaseeeee Matt...please..." She said holding on to his hand and taking the remote away from him.  
  
"No Amy. NO!"  
  
"Whoa there slick...what's the problem?" Jeff said, interrupting the banter between the two. He was frankly surprised that Matt had actually been able to say no to Amy. This was definitely a rare occasion.  
  
"Jeff, he's being such an asshole. I just want him to do this one little thing for me and my mom and he won't do it." She said leaning back on the couch sulkily.  
  
"Um...well what's the favor? Maybe I could help you out." Jeff shrugged his shoulders. He had nothing better to do this weekend anyways with Beth off to see her parents in Georgia for the month on account of her grandmother's sickness and all three of them were off for an injury storyline.  
  
"Oh, Jeff could you please..." Amy pleaded.  
  
"Uh...sure but what is it?"  
  
"Oh I'll tell you about it on the way there, come on, we're gonna be late." Amy said deliberately ignoring Matt when he tilted his cheek for his usually friendly peck.  
  
"Aims...don't be mad." Matt began worriedly.  
  
"Come on Jeff, let's go." She said glaring at Matt before turning around and dragging Jeff out of the house. 


	4. 4

Chapter 4  
  
"So, where're we going?" Jeff asked as he pulled on his seatbelt.  
  
"Oh the gym." Amy responded keeping her eye on the rear view mirror as she backed out of the driveway.  
  
"Yeah but...what are we gonna be doing there?" Jeff said a little nervously.  
  
Amy held a hand up. "Hang on a sec...this is a busy intersection." She said pretending to concentrate on the road. She did this for about ten minutes before stopping.  
  
"Uh...It's a red light...and there are no other cars around. So how about you tell me now." Jeff said.  
  
"Shh...hang on a few more seconds." Amy said driving quickly through a busy street in Sanford, before triumphantly pulling into a parking place at a small building. Outside the door hung a pink script sign that read in Curves – fitness for women.  
  
"Uh...this is your mom's gym?" Jeff said as he saw four women walking into the building talking animatedly.  
  
"Yep. Well you remember how I told you that one time that she came to visit me in New York and she got mugged."  
  
"Oh my God...no you didn't tell me that."  
  
"Oh yeah...I told your stupid brother." Amy said sulkily.  
  
"Well what happened?" Jeff asked concernedly.  
  
"Obviously she's fine. But the guy took her bags and pushed down to the ground. Thank god he didn't do anything else to her or I swear to go I would have killed him..." Amy said vehemently.  
  
"Is she okay Ames?"  
  
"Yeah she's fine. I think I may have been a lot more disturbed than my mom. But anyways I made her learn some self defense moves just to make sure she would know what to do in case it ever happens again."  
  
"That's great Ames."  
  
"I know. But anyways, she also started going to the gym a few months ago and one of the ladies she works out with had a sister who also got attacked in California. So my mom decided to show her the self-defense moves that I taught her. And that lady taught another lady and so now they invited me to come and teach a full self defense class for the gym."  
  
"That's really really great Ames."  
  
"I know so of course now I'll be showing them how to defend themselves in case a real attacker comes at them which is where you come in. Let's go." Amy said jumping out of the car and going to her trunk to get a big duffle bag.  
  
Jeff sat in the car thoughtfully in the car.  
  
"Uh....Amy." Jeff said hesitantly. Amy ignored him and walked towards the gym.  
  
"Amy..." Jeff called out again this time climbing out of the car and ran after her. He stopped outside of the gym.  
  
"Amy!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Why do you need me to come with you?" Jeff squeaked out.  
  
Amy shrugged. "Well, I promised them that they would be able to try out their new skills from a real attacker."  
  
"And who's going to be the attacker?" Jeff asked nervously.  
  
"You of course." She said before grabbing his arm and yanking him into the gym. 


	5. 5

Chapter 5  
  
"Hi Ladies. I'm Amy Dumas." Amy paused as she was interrupted by a loud applause from the myriad women in the room. Jeff swallowed nervously.  
  
"Thank you. Um...As you all know...I'm her daughter..." Amy said gesturing at her mother.  
  
"And this is our volunteer today...Jeff Hardy." Another chorus of applause met her.  
  
"Okay...so let's start with punches...everybody form a circle." Jeff stood back and watched the ladies punch the air in front of them going along with Amy's orders.  
  
"That was great you guys. Okay, so today, we're going to attempt some throws. This is called a hiptoss. Jeff come over here please." Amy called out.  
  
"Umm...how about you just show them first...you know like demonstrate." Jeff stuttered. The women laughed, thinking that Amy and Jeff had staged it.  
  
"Jeff!" Amy said in a warning tone. With a huge sigh, Jeff ambled over in front of Amy.  
  
"Alright. Since I'm just showing you guys how to do this first, I'll throw Jeff from a standing position." Amy said turning around so that her and Jeff were face to face.  
  
"Jeff, come at me with both arms, like you're about to grab me." Amy instructed. Doing as she said, Jeff slowly walked towards Amy with both arms outstretched. As he came towards her, she placed her left hand on his left arm and wrapped her right arm around his right shoulder then quickly turned around and tossed him over her hips.  
  
"There! Thank you Jeff." Amy said, allowing the women to applaud. Jeff groaned.  
  
"Okay, so ladies why don't you all pick a partner and try the move. I'll do it one more time for good measure." Amy said then gesturing to Jeff who shook his head wildly at first then succumbed when Amy glared angrily at him.  
  
"THUMP" Another applause from the women covered Jeff's hurt moan and Amy leaned down to help him up with a smirk on her face. In his ear she whispered, "Everytime you hesitate to do a move that I ask you too...I'll throw you harder."  
  
"Alright Alright...jeez. I'm the helping you out. Damn woman." Jeff mumbled as he brushed himself off.  
  
"Does everyone have a partner?" Amy called out.  
  
"Um...I don't." A voice called out from the back of the room.  
  
"Hmm...alright...Jeff go over there." Amy ordered.  
  
Jeff glared at Amy and then walked to the through the crowd of women. A few young women tried to catch his eye and smile but he was completely oblivious to it all. Until he saw her.  
  
"Hi I'm Caroline." She said. She smiled shyly at him and ran her hand haphazardly through her dark hair. A rampant curl fell out of the loose ponytail she had put on her head and caressed her cheek softly.  
  
"I'm Jeff." Jeff replied. She had the most amazing eyes he had ever seen before on a woman. They were so clear and he could swear that they were the color of soft gold...like warm caramel. He cleared his throat as his thought ran away from him.  
  
"Thanks a lot for helping me out. A friend of mine was supposed to come here with me but she had to leave for a family emergency." She explained.  
  
"Alright ladies!" Amy called out. "One...two...three!" She yelled at which all the women performed the hip toss.  
  
"The key here is to not let go of your partner. Only in a real attack should you immediately let go of him because then gravity will do it's work and hurt your attacker...really...really bad." Amy said smiling as a chorus of laughter greeted her.  
  
The session went on for an hour. Amy had completely forgotten about Jeff until she heard him laugh out loud at something that girl had said. Amy looked at the two of them anxiously. From the way that Jeff was looking at the girl, Amy could tell he was definitely attracted and from the way the girl looked back at him, she could tell that the attraction was not one sided.  
  
"Oh come on Jeff." Amy mumbled to herself.  
  
"Okay ladies, times up. I hope you enjoyed this session and I hope you take my advice in starting to lift weights and to maybe join a kickboxing or judo course." Amy said and smiled at all the women as they walked out of the house. She was surprised when she saw the girl and Jeff still standing at the back of the gym talking. Slowly she walked towards them.  
  
"So maybe sometime you want to meet? How about it? Coffee maybe?" Jeff asked.  
  
"Umm sure. I mean I don't really have much to do. But aren't you busy or something?" She asked.  
  
"No...I'm actually off for a few weeks to play off an injury." Jeff replied. "Tell you what, why don't you give me your number and we can talk about coffee or something." He continued extending his left hand towards her.  
  
"Ok...sure." She said as she wrote down her number with a pen. "It was nice meeting you Jeff."  
  
"Ditto." He replied as he grinned and watched as she walked out of the gym.  
  
Amy waited until they were in the car before she started talking.  
  
"Jeff...don't you fucking dare!" She yelled as soon as he had shut the door.  
  
"What?" He asked confusedly.  
  
"What are you doing to that poor girl? You are engaged to be married to Beth. You guys are getting married in just a few months. Leave that other girl alone."  
  
"What are you talking about? Caroline is just a friend. I just want to hang out with someone."  
  
"Oh really...and the fact that your girlfriend is away for a month has nothing to do with your sudden interest in "Caroline"." Amy said.  
  
"Honestly I just want to hang out." Jeff replied. "I invited her to the BBQ we're having." Jeff said.  
  
"Look Jeff...something doesn't feel right about this. Did you tell her that you were engaged?" Amy asked suspiciously.  
  
"Of course I did." Jeff said meeting Amy's eyes with his.  
  
"Good." Amy said, although deep down...a strange nagging feeling told her that he probably didn't. 


End file.
